GUWAHATI: External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, in his address to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, February 6, defended the United States’ deportation of 104 illegal Indian migrants while acknowledging concerns over their treatment in transit. His statement came amid growing outrage from the opposition over videos showing deportees shackled and handcuffed aboard a US military aircraft.
ALSO READ: ₹3,000 Annual & ₹30,000 Lifetime Toll Pass Soon To Be Introduced In India: Reports
Jaishankar stated that the US has been deporting illegal migrants for years, with numbers ranging from 530 in 2012 to over 2,000 in 2019. "It is in our collective interest to encourage legal mobility and discourage illegal movement. It is the obligation of all countries to take back their nationals if they are found to be living illegally abroad," he reportedly said. He added that the government is engaging with the US to ensure deportees are treated humanely.
Jaishankar refuted that women and children had been restrained and assured Parliament that deportees were provided with food, medical care, and other necessities. Contrary to his claim, videos shared by US Border Patrol chief Michael Banks showed Indian deportees handcuffed and led onto a C-17 military transport aircraft before being strapped into their seats for the flight to Amritsar.
Following their arrival in India, several deportees described inhumane treatment, including being handcuffed for long hours and denied toilet breaks. Jaspal Singh, a 36-year-old from Punjab’s Gurdaspur, reportedly revealed he had paid ₹30 lakh to an agent for a promised legal route to the US but was instead trafficked via a perilous South American route.
The opposition reacted strongly to the deportation process. Trinamool MP Saket Gokhale questioned why India, as the world’s fifth-largest economy, could not arrange its own flights to bring back its citizens with dignity. "If Colombia, which isn’t even in the top 10 economies, could send military aircraft for its deported citizens, why couldn't we?" he asked.
Additionally, led by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, opposition MPs, including Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav, the Trinamool Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, and DMK, staged protests holding placards that read “Humans, not prisoners”.
